Earlier this year, I wrote a post about homework in primary schools. I was concerned that my older son was getting too much of it and concluded that a balance needed to be struck. Since then, however, my thoughts have changed a little. With no letup in the amount set and with his younger brother …
We’re a few weeks back into the new school year and all three kids seem to be doing well. Youngest has settled into nursery without so much as a drop-off tantrum and the six-year-old is doing brilliantly at everything. I always worry about oldest, simply because he’s been there that much longer than his siblings …
When I was going through the stuff in my old room recently, I found the results of a careers meeting from my last year at secondary school. You like stories, I know. Bear with me though. If you’re of a certain vintage, you might well remember the format. You nominated your dream job then answered a …
I found myself in an unusual situation the other day. I laughed at something on Peppa Pig. The episode, School Project, sees the children set a homework assignment to make castles. Of course, the parents end up doing the majority of the work and looking frazzled by the end. I say I laughed; it was …
Dylan experienced the dreaded Sats last week. He loves school and throws himself into each new topic with great enthusiasm. His English is excellent and his maths isn’t bad, so we weren’t worried about how he would do. Academically, at least. There was something noticeably different about him though. Without warning, he seemed bothered. He was quite …
Coding is a word that has cropped up more and more alongside education in recent years and rightly so. I think it’s so important for children to learn programming skills, but it can be a tricky concept to introduce. Step forward Cubetto, an award-winning toy for children aged three plus. Cubetto is a friendly little …
Something has been troubling me of late. It’s a problem that has only come into play since Dylan started at school, so I know where to point the finger for what follows. When he first went, he could barely scribble his own name but he can now read and write very capably and takes great …
ActionAid got in touch with me earlier this week. It was to ask if I’d write about why education is so important to my children. I’m more than happy to oblige! As chance would have it, this is something Kate and I have being giving a lot of thought to of late. On Monday, we …